White Dorpers are one of the few breeds in commercial sheep production that are considered both terminal and maternal sires.
They are hardy, low maintenance and do not require shearing. They provide a commerical flock with excellent carcass quality, good growth and great maternal traits. A purebred Dorper flock can wean a 150% lamb crop on grass only. A Dorper/Katahdin ewe is a hardy cross that can wean a 180% to 200% lamb crop with exceptional carcass quality.
We got started raising White Dorpers by purchasing a flock from Lewis White Dorpers (LWD) in Oregon. LWD was one of the few Dorper flocks using estimated breeding values (EBV) at the time. EBV’s were important to us as we had already seen their value in our Katahdin flock. Another thing we liked about LWD was that they were using imported Australian Dorper genetics. These Australian Dorpers were already enrolled in LambPlan (the Australian version of NSIP) and had EBV’s to back their performance.
We got started raising White Dorpers by purchasing a flock from Lewis White Dorpers (LWD) in Oregon. LWD was one of the few Dorper flocks using estimated breeding values (EBV) at the time. EBV’s were important to us as we had already seen their value in our Katahdin flock. Another thing we liked about LWD was that they were using imported Australian Dorper genetics. These Australian Dorpers were already enrolled in LambPlan (the Australian version of NSIP) and had EBV’s to back their performance.
These are the EBVs we use on White Dorpers
Number of Lambs Born (NLB), Number of Lambs Weaned (NLW), and Maternal Weaning weight (MWWT)
Since we currently use our White Dorpers mainly as a terminal sire, we do not put a lot of emphasis on these maternal traits. I do think these are important traits for White Dorpers. As we grow our flock and develop our breeding program, we will be looking at these EBV’s more and will likely use them the same as we do in our Katahdin flock.
Weaning Weight (WWT) and Post-Weaning Weight (PWWT)
These indicate the growth potential of an animal and receive a lot of emphasis in our breeding program.
Post-Weaning Eye Muscle Depth (PEMD)
Since we don’t scan our flock and most of our customers don’t get paid for carcass quality we don’t pay as much attention to this EBV as we probably should. But we do look at it when we’re purchasing rams from flocks that do scan and will likely start scanning our flock in the future.
